DSEI 2025: Latest MBDA weapons systems revealed

The pace of innovation, iteration, and evolution of defence technologies is rapid, and European suppliers such as MBDA, pressed by the growing military demand on the continent, still unveil new concepts while augmenting existing programmes.

In a media briefing ahead of DSEI 2025, business executives from Europe’s foremost missile maker presented several of their latest complex weapons systems, some of which will be launched for the first time during the exhibition.

Crossbow One-Way Effector (Heavy)

To begin with, MBDA has a new One-Way Effector (OWE) in development which will progress – from design to demonstration in Q4 2025 – over a period of seven months. One executive said that the new system will be ready for production by 2026 at the earliest.

Crossbow is said to be an affordable, long-range strike solution (+800km), designed for rapid development and mass production. The heavy system has a modular payload that can carry a 300kg (kinetic or non-kinetic) warhead.

Users can launch the OWE from a standard 20-foot ISO container – reminiscent of Ukraine’s lauded Operation Spider’s Web – and the system is scalable to different platforms.

This capability meets the British Army goal of increasing lethality through a new crewed-uncrewed teaming doctrine that preserves 20% crewed platforms with two layers, 40% each, with either attritable or disposable – as in the case of Crossbow – autonomous systems.

To that end, Crossbow also uses AI-enabled, image-based navigation which functions in GNSS-denied environments.

However, Crossbow should not be confused with another one of the group’s systems – the nameless ‘OWE’ – which meets a French Artillery requirement. This French system is a concept that came from MBDA France, while Crossbow is an MBDA UK product.

The French OWE, on the other hand, is a smaller similarly mass-produced system designed for high-intensity warfare that was unveiled at the Paris Air Show in June 2025. While both systems are different – not even in the same family of systems – it does show the intense demand in Europe for low-cost, readily produced, mass effect.

Akeron MBT 120

Fitting neatly into the British Army’s strategy in preserving crewed platforms where possible, MBDA has unveiled its Akeron non line of sight (NLOS) missile for main battle tanks (MBTs).

The fire-and-forget munition enables tanks to strike without exposing themselves directly, as was the conventional method of tank warfare explained one programme manager, where typically “you have got to effectively expose yourself, look the enemy in the eye, and often engage in a contact battle with them, putting at risk your circa six million euro platform and crew members.”

But, the representative continued, “if you can strike without ever being seen, to start with, that in itself is a huge, huge payoff.”

The gun-launched missile fits with existing 120mm smoothbore guns while emulating the size and weight of extant ammunition, meaning there are no platform modifications needed.

The missile utilises a passive electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) seeker. GlobalData’s 2023 projection says this technology will reach a value of $19.6bn by 2033.

However, as of 4 September, open source intelligence from the Institute of the Study of War discovered that Russian forces are adopting anti-thermal cloaks. This asset allows them to move alone or in pairs across roughly one kilometre toward Ukrainian forward positions in Kupyansk at night before concentrating and attacking.

SPEAR Glide

A new medium-range glide missile will join the expanding SPEAR family of systems. SPEAR Glide is a low-cost, unpowered variant of MBDA’s air-to-surface cruise missileof the same name.

MBDA’s tactical strike unit have considered a glide version over the last two or three years as a cheaper variant of the SPEAR product line.

“We’ve never actually launched it” contrary to popular assumption, said the programme manager.

“Now with the acceleration and advancement of the mainstream programme and some of the things that we’ve seen in operation over the last three years, MBDA has decided to accelerate the work on the speed glide to meet the future requirement of a medium range utility strike record,” they added.

While Glide’s role remains the suppression of enemy air defences there are still some slight changes to its design. MBDA technicians have removed the radio frequency seeker, replacing it with an EO/IR seeker with image-based navigation similar to Crossbow. Glide also includes a full-calibre kinetic penetrator.

SPEAR Glide aligns with the trend for low-cost, high-volume production when required. But the group also designed the weapon system  for fast integration onto the Eurofighter Typhoon or Gripen aircraft while sharing the same logistics, training and launchers as the rest of the SPEAR family.

Surface-launched ASRAAM (Raven system)

MBDA will produce the surface-launched (SL) version of the Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM) for the new Raven air defence system.

The concept of a surface-launched ASRAAM has dominated headlines this year, with the UK sending Raven and SL-ASRAAMs to Ukraine.

Raven is a fire-and-forget, mobile or static, short-range, ground-based air defence(GBAD) system that operators can use against drones and cruise missiles. The UK government said the system, which went from concept to initial delivery in three months in 2022 under Task force Kindred, has been fired more than 400 times by Ukrainian forces, with a purported 70% shot-to-kill ratio.

The system requires a very short training time and little logistics burden (days, not months). Controls are relatively simple, with the crew able to operate from inside the HMT 600 cab or from a remote location up to 50 metres away. A vehicle mounted seeker system is able to relay information to the ASRAAM missiles, which can then be cued and fired.

Meanwhile the SL-ASRAAMs creates a common stockpile of missiles usable across the UK Armed Forces.

FC/ASW

The Future Cruise/Anti-Ship Weapon (FC/ASW) is an enduring multilateral maritime strike missile programme between the UK and France, which was expanded in July under the Lancaster 2.0 Treaty.

However, in the briefing, the programme leader revealed that Italy will soon join the user group at a later time.

The project, which first emerged in 2017 will now evolve to become “one programme, two missiles,” described MBDA’s programme leader. The first weapon is a high-speed, manoeuvrable, supersonic missile for resilient penetration while the second system is a stealthy, low observable, long-range subsonic missile for survivable deep strike.

Both missile systems are designed to operate in the maritime domain well into the 2060s. The duo are also multi platform, meaning they can be launched from aircraft or from surface ships.

Looking ahead, the business executive revealed that MBDA are mapping a route to delivering a ground launch capability for both missiles in the future if that is requested by our customers.

Additional reporting from Richard Thomas.